The nature of apprenticeships is changing. Uptake of recognition of prior learning and the impacts of the earlier completion confirms there is considerable demand for alternative pathways into a trade.
Young people's intentions to pursue post-school study established in secondary school.
This research investigated pre-apprenticeship training in Australia through a variety of research methods—keyword searches, lists of prescribed pre-apprenticeship courses from state and territory contacts, and a unit record enrolment file. An analysis of this data found that there were ten nationally accredited and 24 training package courses with pre-apprenticeship activity. There were approximately 64 800 course enrolments in the identified pre-apprenticeship courses in 2009. This can be compared with 2007 when there were 50 700 course enrolments in these courses. The major findings were that over half of pre-apprenticeship course enrolments were within the engineering and related technologies field of education and around a third were within the architecture and building field; and the majority of course enrolments were within certificate II courses.
The traineeship model is currently targeted at a broader group of people compared with the original target group of young unemployed persons as envisaged by the Kirby Enquiry. This report aims to assess the effectiveness of the model for young people, particularly young early school leavers. The findings suggest that traineeships are an important pathway for female early school leavers. However, traineeships are poorly targeted if the target group is disadvantaged young people.